Mt. Fuji and Airplane Contrail

I took lots of pictures when I went to Fuji Five Lakes area in December 2013.

Among them, I love these pictures taken at the time of sunset.

Cafe NORA

One of my tennis friends is the owner of a cafe called NORA. He opened it two years ago, after having renovated a part of his farm houses.

Even I often play tennis with him, it was my first visit to the restaurant.

 He is not only the owner of the cafe but also is still a farmer. He produces rice and vegetables by himself; he uses his own agricultural crops for dishes at his restaurant.

We had lunch there, talked with the owner about this and that, on and on, for hours.

It was a wonderful afternoon.

It Snows on the Weekend

We had a heavy snowfall in Utsunomiya yesterday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy snowfall warnings for Kanto area including Tochigi, Tokyo and other prefectures on Saturday.

It said that it was the first time that heavy snow warnings were issued for Tokyo in 13 years.

Almost all flights to and from Haneda Airport were canceled and trains were partially disrupted on Saturday.





Contrary to the bad weather yesterday, it's a warm sunny day today.

I took a walk to Utsunomiya Castle Park to take some pictures.

Snowfall Covers Utsunomiya Castle Park.

Daruma Doll Festival Is Held

Daruma doll festival was held in Banba Square yesterday. What's a Daruma doll?

Daruma is a traditional handmade Japanese wishing doll that keeps us focused on achieving our goals.

The eyes of Daruma are often blank when sold.

A person who bought a doll fills in one eye on setting the goal to signify one's commitment to achieving, then the other on fulfilling it.
In this way, every time the person sees the one-eyed Daruma, they recall the goal.

There are ten colors for the type of goal.


Black:chasing away evil and a successful year

Blue: personal achievement and success

Gold: wealth

Green:good health and vitality

Orange: success in school

Pink:blessing in love, marriage and giving birth

Purple:advancement in career

Red:safety and success in every way

White:new birth and best wishes

Yellow:security and protection